A String of Memories
by VestigeTheII
Summary: Little Valgaav wakes up from a particularly nasty nightmare, one that leaves his mother uneasy and him uncertain about it's nature. Can Xellos, possibly the last person Val wanted to see at that moment, shed some light on all the questions now plaguing his mind? "That is a secret."
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Yeah I know, a Slayers oneshot in 2019 is a bit random. What can I say, I had this idea that I couldn't let go, thought I'd write a short story on it of about 1000 words and...here I am. Still, I'm happy with the results and decided to share it, so without further ado, enjoy.**

* * *

Rocks. All he could see were rocks getting closer as he collapsed from the stings. Everything ached, from his hands to his legs, having been pecked mercilessly by spikes that raced each other to reach his marrow. The assault finally gave him a moment of reprieve when he fell, and with a dull thud he slumped on the floor. He wanted nothing more than to lay, but he couldn't afford to.

It wasn't finished with him.

With a ragged breath he turned his head to the left side to breathe as his right arm grabbed at thin air and the cave was filled with light. Pure white heat formed within his hand and began to grow, its light doing little to illuminate the cave, but managing to cast some shadows with the help of the stalagmites lining the ceiling. The light did even less to deter his assailant, who mouthed a taunt he couldn't afford to focus on while urging it to grow bigger, turning from a spark to a granule.

Pain suddenly shot up through his forearm and two screams filled the room, much to the delight of his chuckling assailant. The corners of his eyes were telling him that a crooked staff with a ball like jewel at the top was being dug into his forearm with so much force it was peeling away his scaly skin and digging into his bones. Yet he still clung on to the pebble of fire in his hand, which turned to a rock when he was forced to inhale..

The pain came back harder at his elbow and his screams rose to match it, as it turned the staff in circles over his bones. A twisted tug of war took place for a while as the walls shook from his screams and his bones from the pain. He took every pause in this game to focus on his aching hand, and soon the rock became a boulder.

Undeterred, the staff came down on his wrist, and he lost the game. His fist clenched over the fire, his dagger like fingers pierced it to the core, and it exploded into smaller erratic rocks of white flame that twisted and danced, searching for a partner. Most found only walls, but one found the ceiling, and the stalagmites could no longer hold on.

A gasp startled him from his pain as he turned his head to look forward, noticing the shower of rocks that was about to crash onto...

"MOOOOOM!" he yelled as he reached with his right hand to try and stop the rocks. His fear turned to shock as he realised he was in a room, alone. The ceiling was not crashing down on anyone, and as he stared at his hand he noticed it was neither broken nor scaly, nor where his nails were nowhere near long enough to qualify as daggers.

Light burst into his room with a crash as a golden haired figure wearing a plain white nightgown violently entered the room without giving the door a chance to open. Splinters and chunks of wood crashed into the walls of his room, and he saw his mother's blue eyes filled with fear for the moment it took her to engulfed him in a fierce hug.

"Val!" shouted Fillia, not looking at him but frantically looking around the room in search of anything that remotely looked dangerous, baring her teeth to the walls like a thirsty bloodhound, Finding none, she gently laid her blue eyes over the shaking boy. "What's wrong Val?! Was somebody in here?"

Val shook his head and hugged his mother as tightly as he was closing his eyes to stop the tears. "N-Nightmare..."

He could feel her shoulders relaxing as her protective hug turned into a comforting one, and her face quickly joined it . "There there, You're awake now, It's ok. Nightmares aren't real. You're safe now.."

She spent the next couple minutes ushering and reassuring the child, patiently waiting for his shaking to stop before she asked her next question, "Would you like to tell me what was it about?"

Green eyes slowly opened after Val felt confident he wouldn't cry over something as silly as a bad dream. He looked up and gave her mom a shaky smile to show her he was ok, to which Fillia reciprocated with an amused one.

"I...I was in a cave," he began, focusing on the fading images and trying to retrace what happened. "Some rocks were falling on you, and I think I made them fall on you...I was on the floor and...in a cave..."

Val's next words died in his throat, as he saw an unfamiliar emotion on her mother's face, but one he knew would not be caused by a simple dream.

* * *

It was early enough in the morning that a couple of roosters could still be heard shouting about it to any poor person that was even remotely considering snoozing, as Val walked around the village. He felt terrible, not just because of the broken sleep but also because he told his mom that he was meeting with the other kids to play.

_'It's not even the first lie I told her today...'_ Val though forlornly. After seeing the fear in her eyes, he told her that in his dream he screamed so hard because of the dark that the cave collapsed on her.

'_Why...did she look so relieved..'_ thought the little boy that was barely belt length, his lips quivering as he tried to think of any reason...of any other reason as to what would have caused such a reaction. Before his tired mind could fail to calm his nerves however, Val's pale gold eyes widened as he lost his balance, and with a dull thud he slumped on the grass. He wanted nothing more than to lay there, but he couldn't afford to.

It wasn't finished with him.

"Now now, I'm fairly sure the stairs did not mean to trip you Val," chirped an adult voice that sounded far too carefree for it's age.

The lack of a taunting tone shocked the boy out of his panic and he struggled to look behind him to see a pair of stone stairs leading to Emilia's inn, one of moms clients that lived near the edge of town.

"Unless that reaction was aimed at me, in which case I must admit you may be taking too many and not enough cues from your mother, Val."

Lifting himself up, Val turned his head to the source of the voice, spotting a crooked staff with a ball like jewel at the top, resting lazily on the ground, His eyes traveled further to his always closed eyes and violet hair.

"Were you going for a trip outside of town Val?" he replied with a smile, unfazed by the boys reaction, "I dare say that might not be the best idea you've had, I can name quite a few monsters that aren't polite enough to leave travelers alone with their own thoughts. Perhaps you would prefer to circle the village to the sweatshop instead?"

"Xellos..." Val replied warily, yet feeling better at seeing him act so normal, or as normal as a self proclaimed trickster could act. A question formed in his throat, but a memory of his mothers eyes caught it and refused to let it out. He struggled to say something for a minute, as Xellos did nothing but stand still and smile as the wind lightly blew his cape to the side.

"...I don't have money," Val said lamely.

A snort was Xellos's initial response. "Well then, since it's been a while since my last visit, allow me to make amends with a handful of candy of your choice."

* * *

Val found himself on the southern side of the village eating a couple of honeyed peanuts, sitting on a bench next to Xellos with their backs to the wall. He was contemplating what to say, or more precisely what to ask the wandering priest sitting next to him.

The events of last night weighed heavily on Val to the point not even honey could make him forget about it, yet it still took him time to try and ask the smiling priest about his nightmare. What ultimately won him over and gave him the courage to speak was the continuous stretch of non aggression from Xellos.

_'Not that Xellos was ever aggressive to me,'_ thought Val, which made sense given what he knew about priests and tricksters. He would frequently come to moms shop, try and get her mad at him through flowery language, and disappear before mom could reach for the mace under her counter. Still, he couldn't quite shake this new feeling of unease he felt towards him.

'Why am I getting so worked up over a dream! Just ask him. Mom was probably just remembering something bad', he tried to convince himself, and eventually the desire to confirm things won out and he turned his head to the priest. "Can I ask you a question?"

Xellos tilted his head towards Val, for what good that did given his eyes stayed closed. "Do I have to answer it?"

"I...:" Val paused, a little taken aback by the answer. "I would like you to, yeah…"

"Hmm," pondered the priest, a blue gloved finger resting on his cheek and dropping his smile for a moment to pursue his lips. "Does it have anything to do with how distracted Fillia is today?"

Wall flinched and looked away at the road, watching disinterestedly as a wagon of melons passed by. "Yes?"

"Was that a question or an answer?" Xellos chirped cheerfully.

"Yes!" Val offered loudly, a frown crossing his face.

"Hmm," pondered the priest with the exact same motion, much to the boys chagrin. "Well I suppose I can't sit back and let things blow over given the state you left your mother in."

"...I'm sorry."

"Oh don't let that get to you. Persistence is her most dominating trait…" said Xellos with a dismissive roll of his head. Though he had no way of seeing it, Val felt the eye roll that accompanied the motion. "And I'd wager she'll get over this thing in less than a day. Speaking of...mind telling me what the _thing _is, Val?"

_'Finally!'_ thought Val, not realizing his earlier jitters have been forgotten in the conversation. "I had this nightmare that really spooked mom. I was in a cave and caused some rocks to fall on them because...I shot fire from my hands."

Val paid close attention to Xellos's face, looking for anything, a twitch, a raise of a brow, an intake of breath or a jolt.

"Was it really a fire that did that?" asked Xellos without missing a beat, which made Val's confidence rise.

"I think so? It felt like a fire to me and i kept growing it in my ha...oh! And my hand was really huge and scaly and black with nails the size oh knives!"

"I think your current hand suits you better," the trickster replied with amusement.

"Yeah! I think it was even longer than my other hand. And bigger too!" said the little boy, stretching his right hand as far as he could to try and demonstrate

"Yeah that sounds about right," Xellos replied with a chuckle, "Was that all you remember?"

"Yeah...err. You were in it and..." Val shoulders tensed without him realizing before he asked, "fighting me."

"For no reason?" Xellos asked with a head tilt and no hesitation,

"I..don't remember..." Val replied honestly, letting his shoulder relax, "But you were really strong, like, stronger than mom!"

A snort was the priests only response.

"And...I think that's it..." Val finished.

"Well I can already tell you're already feeling better" Xellos couldn't help but tease.

"Yeah..:" Val agreed halfheartedly. He did feel better admittedly, but there was still one thing that was bothering him. "It's just...do you know why this dream would upset mom so much?"

"Because it's a memory."

"..."

He said it so carefree and happy, like he was talking about the nice sunny weather, yet those simple words were enough to make Val's heart stop beating for a second. For a while, he could only stand still like a statue, trying to comprehend what he just heard. Once the realization dawned Val instantly bolted off the bench..

_'I can't move!?'_

Or tried to at least. Panicked eyes looked down to notice the staff resting over his legs, having been casually moved by Xellos when he wasn't paying attention. It wasn't heavy, Xellos wasn't holding it or pushing it down, yet it wouldn't budge an inch, and deep down Val knew the wall behind him would sooner give in then that crooked thing.

"Well that settles things. You really are taking too many cues from your mother Val," said the trickster while wagging his finger in mock disapproval. "This is hardly something worth running away from home over you know."

"I wasn't trying to run away!" replied the now frantic boy, looking anywhere but at the priest and trying in vain to push the staff off his legs. He winced a bit at his tone, darting his eyes around to make sure no one was noticing his distress and trying to intervene. Val couldn't be sure what Xellos was going to do to them if they tried and that scared him.

"Ah so you weren't thinking of running towards the south with no consideration to how Filla would react?"

His not so innocent question caused Val to wince again, and the trickster was quick to capitalize.

"Why does it bother you that it's a memory?"

"Why does..." Val started, incredulous eyes darting to the smiling man, which caused his words to get caught in his throat. "Y-y-you tried to...to..."

"Allow me to be more specific," Xellos interrupted him without a care, "Why does it sadden you that it's a memory?"

An image of his scared mother flashed in his mind, causing Val's heart to stop for a second.

"Ah progress, finally," said the trickster, taking the moment to move the staff to the side of the bench. Val made no attempt to stand in spite of his new found freedom. His fear being replaced with guilt made him realise he had no way of outrunning Xellos, especially since he never used the door when visiting his mother, he would quite simply teleport in whatever room she was in. All he could do was hope that the priest wouldn't try and reenact the events of the dream.

That thought somehow failed to make him feel at ease.

"Bleh," came out of Xellos's mouth as he rested his elbow on his knee and his chin on his palm, seemingly not caring about Val's state of mind. "I can't remember the last time I was forced to talk this much. I have half a mind to blame your age but I've met plenty of adults that are as difficult."

Val didn't answer. If he were in a better state of mind he might have tried to retort. A small part of him dared to hope that the priests attitude indicated he wasn't interested in fighting him, but that begged the question.

"...Why?"

"Humans are creatures of habit," shrugged the priest. "Especially the bad ones. It's quite amusing, really."

Despite the situation Vlad couldn't help but give Xellos a glare.

"Ah my mistake, that _why _was aimed at me wasn't it?" Xellos said with a tone that left little doubt to Val that he already knew that, and was just being difficult on purpose. His suspicion has all been confirmed as he raised a thumb over his mouth, "That's a secret."

Val unconsciously growled at the trickster priest in a manner he saw his mother do at least once whenever he visited. Just like those times, Xellos was unperturbed, and the two stayed in relative silence for a while.

"Let's play a game, Val," he suddenly said while pulling up the satchel on his left hip.

The little boy felt a small shudder go down his spine. "I don't think I want to."

"Even if this game may show that both you and Fillia have nothing to worry about?"

The bait was obvious, Xellos has used his mother's name several times like a knife to stab Val in the heart. Still, the little boy couldn't ignore it even if he wanted to, but that didn't stop him from being suspicious about it.

"Why?"

"Because I've had it with talking," replied Xellos like it was the most obvious thing. "Don't worry, all you really need to do is watch".

Not waiting for a reply, Xellos reached into his satchel. Vaguely, Val noted the bag was bigger on the inside as Xellos's hand disappear within it, searching for...something.

"Ta dah!" he singsonged once the something was found, pulling out the elusive item out of the bag, which turned out to be…

"A string..." Val offered disinterestedly.

"Not just any string," Replied the priest as he tied both ends together, "but a silver ring of string!"

Xellos waited till it became obvious that the little boy was not going to reply.

"Now pay close attention Val less you're going to miss it," he said before looping the string over both his thumbs and pulling. It was a fairly large string, giving about a foot of length space between his hands before it straightened.

Val tried not to pay attention to the trickster as Xellos's little fingers were inserted under the string, before doing the same with his thumbs and pulling. But as his thumbs joined in and the string began to intersect in several places, Val couldn't help but become curious, especially since he was doing all that with his eyes closed.

"Ta dah!" Said the priest eventually with his trademark smile as he pulled his hands apart triumphantly. "This is known as the moth. Can you see it?"

He could, though he had to ignore one of the strings. Xellos managed to make a pattern that showed two sets of triangles on either side, positioned like a pair of wings. The bottom triangles were smaller and thicker compared to the top ones. Val felt impressed for a second before his eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"What does this…?"

"Patience. I'm not done," Interrupted the priest before unceremoniously removing one hand from the string and letting it unravel. Val felt a little disappointed the violet haired didn't repeat the pattern backward, so when Xellos started to play with the string again he paid closer attention to his movement.

The first couple of motions were the same as before, but then he removed his pinkies and focused more on his thumbs, and Val was quickly lost again due to the speed of the tricksters fingers.

"Ta dah!" said the priest again with his trademark smile as he pulled his hands apart triumphantly. "This is known as the star, can you see it?"

He could, a lot more clearly than the moth. The string was being pulled in 5 directions by his thumbs, forefingers and one pinky, forming a star made with one line, like some of the drawings his friends made sometimes.

"Is the star the same as the moth?" Xellos suddenly asked.

It took a moment for Val to reply, trying to make sure he heard the question right. "What?"

"Is the star the same as the moth?" Xellos asked again unperturbed. "The shapes I made?"

"Of course not," said Val, almost shouting.

"Are they different?"

"Obviously!" said Val,this time failing to control himself.

"A yes or a no please."

"...Yes?"

"Was that a question or an answer?" asked Xellos with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes!"

"Why?"

Val paused, confused and frustrated but for different reasons than this morning. "Why what?!"

"I used the same string did I not?" offered the priest in a matter of fact tone. "Same length, same color, knotted in the same spot. So how are the two not the same?"

Val tried to figure out what trick Xellos was trying to pull off. But his face remained a mask of a fake smile with eyes closed, unreadable and unchanging as he kept egging Val for something. Giving up on trying to figure out what, he gave Xel the most obvious answer he could muster.

"Because you shaped them differently!"

"Correct!" Xellos chirped. "Same with your dream."

Val was starting to notice Xell had an uncanny ability to make his heart stop with just a couple words."...How...does...what?"

"You were a moth in your dream, and you are a star right now," the priest said slowly. "They are not the same."

"That's not…" began Val, trying hard to find a way to explain the priest that that didn't make any sense. "It's different. I'm..."

"You can be a moth again if you want." Xellos interrupted while unraveling the string again, causing Fillia's fearful eyes to flash again in Val's mind.

"W-what, no! I don't want to be a moth!"

"Then don't," the priest said simply

"**It's not that easy!**" the child shouted in exasperation, causing a few of the villagers to look at the duo, curiously.

"Yes it is," the priest said unperturbed, "You can choose to change or you can choose not to."

"But you easily changed the shape of it!"

"Yes."

"I-I-I Don't want to change!"

"Then don't." the priest said again.

"I...you.." Val tried before his mind had had enough. He groaned while slumping on the bench, his body going lax as he took a moment to calm down.

A moment became a minute, which became several. Xellos and Val where sitting on the bench with their eyes closed, not saying a word, and the curious onlookers shrugged and went back to their business, assuming the two were napping.

"I'm...not sure what I want," Val finally admitted, half opening his eyes and staring at the sky.

"Then perhaps it's a bit too early for you to jump to conclusions and run away," Xellos pointed out, matter of factly.

A sigh escaped Val's lips before he replied. "Yeah..."

The two stayed quiet again,till eventually val rose up from the bench, feeling a little bit dizzy but also better than he'd been the entire day. He turned his tired eyes to the priest, still standing on the bench, eyes still closed.

"Hey, Xellos?"

"Hmm?"

"What will you do if I go back to being a moth?"

"Kill you in your sleep."

"..."

He said it so carefree and happy, and yet Val couldn't help but chuckle. Xellos's frankness and certainty made his words carry weight, enough to thwart what lingering doubts Val had over this entire ordeal.

"I don't think mom would be happy about it."

"The moth or the killing?" Xellos asked not so innocently.

"Yes," said Val, with a cheeky smile that's been absent the whole day.

A snort was the priests initial response, "Well your sense of humor is back. Now, if you'll excuse me I'll take my leave before you go back to being fully cheerful. It's bad for my health."

Val counted that as an extra reason to stay a star, before a thought struck him. "Wait can I keep the string?"

The Trickster shrugged and dangled the object in front of Val with his thumb. "I'm not staying to teach you how to make those shapes you realize."

Val shrugged in return, taking the string. "I can figure things out on my own."

"Fillia is inhumanly good with that by the way. Consider whining to her when you get stuck."

Before Val could retort, he blinked and the priest was no longer there. Val looked around making sure there was no one paying attention to him, and before making a jog home, he wrapped the silver string around his arm and said one final thing to no one in particular.

"Thank you."

* * *

**AN: I was originally going to end this one shot after Xellos and Fillia had a similar talk, but honestly, this felt like a better place to end this. Plus there is the risk the conversation feeling samey, so for now I'll end things here. **

**Thank you for reading this far, and have a nice day.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: To the two people that reviewed, four people that favorited and that one person that followed this story. I honestly don't think I would have bothered to try and write this second half without you, so I just want to say thank you for the support, and sorry I don't plan to take this fic any further. **

**This has always been intended to be a oneshot revolving around the title, and as of right now I'm ready to declare this fic as completed. S****o without further ado, enjoy.**

* * *

Filia's pottery shop was unusually quiet despite the sun having risen for hours, causing some of her locals to occasionally peek at her windows to see if anything was amiss. Though her brash and loud reputation was often exaggerated by some of her older neighbors, it was common knowledge that her shop was always lively.

Yet today wasn't such a day. Jillas and Gravos were given a day off for the first time in forever, and though they opposed it at first, they would always relent when they thought they were annoying the "boss lady". Filia herself was absent from the lower levels, where she could usually be seen making new pottery in order to either sell or to experiment with a new pattern. And finally, as far as anyone else was concerned, Val left early in the day to play with the other kids.

If you were able to see through walls, you'd be able to tell she was upstairs, in Val's room, sitting on his bed staring absentmindedly at a wall, not even bothering to fix the broken door with a human sized hole in it that was miraculously not falling off from its hinges.

If you were able to sense emotions, you could tell she had a bundle of conflicting ones fighting for control. Fear was trying to overpower her doubt only to be back-stabbed by hope, before they all collectively got piled on by rage, before she forcefully snuffed it out, leaving the other three to duke it out once more.

If you were able to read her thoughts, you'd see Val's dream, replaying in her head from her perspective. She saw the twisted smile of malice Xellos wore as he dug his staff into the downed opponent. That smile turned to a scowl for a split second before he vanished when a stray blast caused the ground to cave in on her, only for him to reappear next to her and move her out of the way for reasons she still couldn't explain. The fight resumed soon after.

Finally, if you were able to pay attention to your surroundings, you would notice she wasn't alone in her room. The priest that was half plaguing her thoughts was leaning on another wall of Val's room along with his staff, pouting at not being noticed despite the minutes ticking by.

Eventually his patience seemed to have run out, as he quietly stood up from the wall before cupping his hands over his mouth. "There's monsters to the west of town looking for Val."

He quickly grabbed his staff and effortlessly blocked the giant black spiked mace that was aimed at his head. "Filia please, Your house is in the north east."

"Go away..." she half muttered with clenched teeth, unnaturally sharp fangs that weren't there before barring at the priest.

Xellos gave her a mock sigh. "It's no fun breaking your disguise if you just let me win Filia."

"I SAID GO AWAY YOU PIECE OF RAW GARBAGE!" she screamed, trying to push the black spikes towards his face to no avail. His staff and arm wouldn't budge an inch even as every muscle in her body was shaking from exertion.

He gave her a dismissive roll of his head, before somehow giving her a flat look through his closed eyes."I already know about Val's memory."

Filia's entire body continued to shake, but for a different reason. Some small part of her hoped she was wrong, but hearing it be called a memory from someone that was actively _in _it made her heart sag, and the arm holding the mace eventually followed.

"How long has it been," said the trickster priest as he began to walk around the room towards the broken door, unperturbed by what happened earlier. "Despite his rather rapid growth, things have been incredibly quiet…well, for this village at least."

Filia didn't reply, which didn't seem to bother Xellos. Outside, her neighbors went back to their daily lives after hearing her outburst, content that Filia wasn't suffering from an illness, even though she would argue Xellos counted as one.

"It's enough to make one think _the past is in the past now, no point worrying over it_," he said in a mock-cheerful voice while inspecting the broken door. "Would you happen to know someone like that?"

She tried not to rise to the bait, but she couldn't stop her growling, sharp teeth baring at him once more."What do you want Xellos?"

"That is a secret," he said while raising his thumb over his mouth

Expecting that answer did little to improve her mood, but before she could tell him where to shove his secrets, Xellos spoke again.

"But that doesn't mean I can't share it, so long as you agree not to tell anyone else."

The look she gave him was equal parts dumbfounded and suspicious, to which he could only shrug.

"Surprised? Don't be, I'm forced into a chatty mood by the current circumstances," he said while dropping his smile. "Val's future is as unpredictable as the Sea of Chaos itself at this point, and literally anything could happen to him at a moment's notice. Yet, these past few years have been abnormally normal. His form stayed consistent, his mind developed at an average pace and there have been no cases of wild magic emanating from his body. Why one could have easily confused him for a random child that just happened to hatch from an egg...until now."

Xellos began to walk towards the golden blonde, stopping when he was but a foot away from her, a look of resignation on his face. "As such, and though I am loath to admit it, I need you to help me decide."

Silence began to fill the room as Xellos remained motionless, content to wait for Filia to react. Filia for her part mulled over everything she heard. Helping him made her skin crawl, but she didn't know what to think of the current situation, and Xellos actually offering assistance in his own way was so rare she almost had no choice but to take it. Her decision made, she took a slow breath, willing her fangs to revert back to a human size, before she addressed the priest as politely as she could.

"Decide what?"

"If I should kill Val."

Blinding light emanated from Filias mouth for a second before a gloved hand covered it.

And then she could no longer feel her body.

Silence filled Filia's residence once more, in contrast to the hustle and bustle that was going out outside. A small boy waited for a wagon to pass before he crossed the street and let himself in the house.

"Hey mom, I'm back!" said Val before he noticed the empty counter. "Jillas?... Gravos?"

* * *

Filia wanted to be scared, but she couldn't. It wasn't because she had experienced Xellos's form of teleportation before, she just couldn't. Calling it teleportation was a bit misleading honestly. He was simply bringing her in the Astral Plane in order to drag her someplace else. Where, she couldn't know; her eyes didn't work in here either.

It was said that what people actually see of monsters is their shadow, which they project from the Astral Plane in order to interact with the Physical Realm. And right now, she could think of no other word to describe how it felt like to be in the Astral Plane than a shadow. Her bones, her skin and her clothes felt like one entity. They didn't work, they were just vaguely shaped right, squashing and stretching in response to something she wasn't aware of as she was being dragged to parts unknown.

Before she could try to recall how mages proficient in shamanism were capable of seeing through this haze, her senses returned and she became aware her feet weren't touching the ground, and that she was once again face to face with Xellos, gloved hand still covering her mouth.

"Have _some_ faith in yourself, Filia," he said before releasing his grip on her face. She had no time to even consider flying before she faceplanted in the grassy ground with a dull thud.

"I said _should_, not would," he continued, suddenly on the ground and 10 feet away from her.

She raised her head and open her mouth, sending a beam of pure light straight towards Xellos's face. Unperturbed, Xellos made a small circle with his thumb, causing the beam to reflect on thin air behind Filia, hitting what sounded like a mountain.

"Or do you think he's doomed to repeat his past?" Xellos inquired while wagging his thumb like a teacher to a small child.

The ground around Filia began to shake as she got up on her hands and feet and took a stance not dissimilar from an aggressive predator. A lizard-like tail emerging from her robes, while her fangs were once again assuming a sharper form. "Val would never do that!"

"Then why are you acting like he would?"

"Why...am…wh..."

The shaking stopped, her golden tail falling lazily on the ground as she blinked. She gave Xellos an unreadable expression as she stood up in a kneeling position. She opened her mouth several times, but the only sound that could be heard was that of a landslide from the mountain behind her. Eventually, Xellos raised an eyebrow, trying to taunt a response out of her.

"Are you a moron?"

He got what he wanted, but if the sudden stiffness of his shoulders were any indication, it wasn't how he wanted it.

"Wait don't answer that, you shambling brutes don't get how emotions work," she continued while rising up, causing Xellos's right eye to twitch.

Unperturbed, the dragon priestess stomped towards the trickster priest and jammed her finger in his chest. "I know this might sound impossible for you to comprehend, but all I want is for Val to live a peaceful life after everything he's suffered through. Him remembering will mean that leeches like you now have a reason to hungrily crawl towards him again. It's called concern, and your inability to feed on it without choking is all the proof I need that you should teleport to the sun AND LAY IN IT!"

"One would argue his former attempts to destroy this world would have erased any goodwill earned from his rather dreadful past," the violet haired said mockingly. "But I guess you still feel too personally involved to let it go?"

"And what if I am?" she said in a dangerous tone.

"Then you're a fool."

Instinctively, one hand lifted her skirt while her right one grabbed at air. She looked down in surprise, then around her looking for something, her mind finally registering she was on a grassy hill.

"But probably the best kind of fool to take care of Val, for what it's worth," continued the closed eyed trickster.

He received a surprised look from the blond, not expecting the backhanded compliment, before Filia's eyes widened in realization.

"Your mace is back home, yes. It's been an annoying day for me so I'm trying to minimize our antics. I was trying to answer a rather pressing question after all."

'_If I should kill Val…' _

His words echoed in her head clear as day, causing her to instinctively grab him by the scruff of his clothes and drag his face closer to make sure he heard her next words. "I won't let you!"

Xellos, unimpressed, decided to look at her, and Filias blood ran cold.

Purple eyes with slit pupils were staring at her.

Purple eyes that promised nothing, because they did not care for her or her threats.

Purple eyes she only saw lit up while torturing Val with his staff, gleefully turning and twisting it just to watch his body wry and twitch.

Purple eyes belonging to a monster that killed thousands of her kin, slaying them by the hundreds with just a stroke of his fingers, earning him the title of Dragon Slayer among the survivors.

"I didn't quite catch that, Filia dear."

Vaguely, she realized her eyes were stinging, too afraid to blink or look away. Nothing about his body language changed, and his mischievous tone stayed the same, yet she felt fear, fear that the next time she lost sight of him would be her last.

Yet she did not let go of his clothes, nor did she back away. She took a shaky breath and forcefully closed her eyes, only to open them again with all the resolution she could muster. "I...won't let **you**…lay a finger on Val again...you piece of RAW GARBAGE!"

Xellos kept staring at her with those cold unblinking eyes. The landslide she inadvertently caused with her breath had long since finished, so the only sound that could be heard was her shaking breath, which was not helping her heart rate in the slightest.

Then, without warning, Xellos moved and she sucked in her breath. It took her a couple seconds to realize the motion was a shrug, and that Xellos closed his eyes when his shoulders fell. "Fair enough."

"Fair…?"

"I'll continue to leave him in your care then," he continued, turning around and escaping Filia's grip without much resistance on her part.

"You…?"

"At least until the next time we're forced to have this conversation," the violet haired elaborated while walking away .

"What…?"

"Oh! Before I leave," Xellos stopped not two steps away from Filia. He opened his satchel with his left hand and began rummaging through it. "Would you like to play a quick game Filia?"

"I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!" She roared with a voice hundreds of times too big to have come out of her human sized mouth.

"Hmm? You mean how I came to this conclusion?" Xellos said in mock confusion while turning around to look at her with his closed eyes. He pulled his left hand from his bag in order to raise his thumb to his mouth before replying. "That's a secret."

A flash of silver was the only thing that stopped the blonde from unleashing another breath attack. She took a closer look at his left hand, her attention focused on something held in his fingers.

"A string?"

"Not just any string," Replied the priest as he tied both ends together, "but a silver ring of string!"

Filia waited till it became obvious Xellos wasn't going to continue without being prompted. She was honestly tempted to just tell him to hang himself with it and just go home. After having her emotions thrown around and tangled by Xellos several times in the span of an hour she was rightfully beginning to feel drained, and the knowledge he was probably feeding off of her every step of the way was not helping her mood.

"It may explain what happened last night," Xellos singsonged, causing her to groan. The bait was obvious, she knew that. The right thing to do was to just focus on her home, teleport in her bed and just collapse in it. But concern was eroding her senses once more, and she hated him for it.

"Carry on," was all she could bring herself to say in resignation.

That seemed to be enough for Xellos as he began to play with the string. His speed was agonizingly slow for Filia, realizing instantly what pattern he was going for.

"Ta dah," Xellos said the priest with his trademark smile. Showing off a star shape using the string.

"What's so special about that Xellos? That's just a pattern for beginners."

"Ah, asking the important questions here, I see you are at least smarter than a child," Xellos offered in a slightly proud tone, making Filia reconsider leaving.

His next words however rooted her on the spot.

"This is a life Filia dear."

Patches of the string began to change. Various colors of the rainbow began to replace parts of the silver string, red and blue fighting for control over a corner, while yellow and orange were alternating between them in another. By the time the string stopped changing colors the once silver star turned into what could only be described as an eyesore, but File still stared at it with fascination.

"Or more precisely a string of memories. It grows and gets colored overtime based on one's experiences. With it, individuals can pull and twist and let go of it in places, looking for a form that they think suits them at the present time...That's choice."

Filia didn't realize it at the time, transfixed at the multicolored star, trying to figure out what color represented what, but there was a hint of envy in Xellos's voice when he said that last word.

"So let me ask you this Filia," the priest muttered her name to get her attention. "What do you think would happen if, say, two lives share such a string?"

As if responding to his words, the string began to change again, coal black began to extend from one end of the knot, eating away every color in it's way and turning every corner of the star colorless.

Filia was beginning to feel a pit open up in her stomach the more the darkness was eating out at the star. Before she could look away, a flash of silver caught her eye once more. A tenth of the way before the darkness could fully envelop the string, it turned silver, and stayed that way for the remainder of the journey to the knot.

"Notice that little spot where the silver intersected with the black?" offered Xellos, referring to the intersection between the top an top left edges. "Assuming no outside force interfered with anything, what happened today is that Val tried a shape that deeply intersected with Valgarv's life, resulting in him remembering events that he wasn't technically a part of."

"Dark Star is not responsible for Val's resurrection," The former priestess said suddenly.

"I don't remember ever insinuating that Filia dear," Xellos said in a not so innocent tone. "Also you shouldn't tell me something you don't believe."

"Yes I do," she said quickly.

"Not wholeheartedly," Xellos quipped. Not for the first time Filia cursed his ability to feed on emotions.

"Whatever doubt you may feel from me it's purely primal in nature," Filla replied defiantly, her eyes glaring at the monsters' closed ones. "I refuse to let something irrational govern my actions. I felt Vorfeed's presence when Valgarv got reincarnated!"

"The amount of faith you put on that quitter is adorable," the priest told her in a mocking tone."Need I remind you those two have merged in order to try and destroy this world? Can you truly guarantee Dark Star did not leave a shard of himself into Val before getting banished just to spite us?"

She couldn't. And she hated herself for it. "Is that why you said we'll have this conversation again?"

Xellos gave her a very punchable smile. "Fret not Filia, as long as he doesn't try a repeat performance with those two, Val is free to do anything I would do."

"I'd sooner eat my own innards than let him act like you," Filla muttered out loud.

"That would be quite a show indeed. Remind me to try and bribe him to dress up like me," the violet haired quipped, causing Filia to want to vomit. "Regardless, let me worry about investigating my distant relatives. You have your own adopted kin you should focus on. After all, the more Val lives, the more intersections like this will take place, and the harder it will be for him to believe there are any differences between his current and past self."

"You say that like there is any way I can prevent those ni…visions, from happening" she told the priest. Before Xellos could reply she pointed a finger at his face." I refuse to take away his ability to live his life."

"Your inability to take the easy route is entertaining at least," the violet haired said, while putting the string back in his satchel, it's purpose done. "You could consider talking about past events before he dreams about them, so he doesn't default to accepting the past memory as his own."

"You make that sound so easy," she said dejectedly while spreading her hands, "His past life has been filled with nothing but pain and suffering."

"Oh don't be so melodramatic, only most of it was," he said dismissively with a wave of his hand. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'll take my leave before you think of something nauseatingly happy to talk to him about. It's bad for my health."

Not waiting for a reply, he vanished. Filia stared at the spot where he was for a minute, opening her mouth as if to say something before shaking her head. She took one last look around her surroundings, trying to commit the place to her memory.

Once satisfied, she knelt and clasped her hands, causing a golden aura to flicker around her as she focused on the lower level of her shop.

And then she vanished as well.

* * *

A flash of light signaled her return back to her shop and home. Filla didn't even have time to open her eyes before she got tackled to the floor by two figures.

"Mom!"

"Boss!"

She giggled, opening her eyes to see Val and Jillas, she wrapped an arm protectively around Val before giving the beatman a curious look. "I thought I told you you're off today?"

"Ah well, ya see boss," began Jillas while rising up in embarrassment. "Little Val here didn't find you home so he came to us worried and...we got worried. Gravos is out asking around for you, while I decided to keep the kid some company till you came back and...here you are."

"Here I am indeed," she said, while giving Val a reassuring squeeze on the floor. With a little nudging Val eventually let go, allowing the two to get up comfortably. "Sorry about that, I had a rather abrupt meeting with Xellos that lasted longer than I wanted it to."

"You met Xellos too?" Val said, concern marring his voice.

"Too?" she narrowed her eyes and inspected her surrogate son. Her eyes eventually landed on something tied around his arm. "Is that where you got that from?"

"Huh? Oh yeah!" the little dragon replied, remembering what was on his arm. "Yeah he did some cool shapes with them and told me you know a lot about this sort of thing,"

"Was that all he said?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Yes," he said quickly, his voice cracking a little.

Filia sighed, before she gave Val a tired but genuine smile. She wanted to prod more, but she wasn't going to force it out of him. She had a good idea what went on anyway and she made a note to try and crush Xellos's head the instant she saw him again. Until that time however…

"Sure, I'm not working today. Jillas, go find Gravos and have that day off like I told you to."

"On it boss!"

"And Val, I just have one condition before we begin."

"Yes mom?"

"I'll show you any pattern except for the star."

* * *

**AN: This was a lot harder to pull off than I expected, since I wanted the conversation to cover multiple areas, so I had to try and get the two to switch topics in a natural manner. **

**I was originally going to have Xellos make a joke that with enough trial and effort Filla could aspire to be as good of a parent as Garv, but decided to leave that one out since I couldn't pull it off in manner that wasn't forced. Thankfully that's the only topic I had to give on and who knows, maybe I can use it the next time I have an idea for a Slayers oneshot.**

****Thank you all for your time, and have a nice day.****


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